Oakland County Amateur Radio Public Service Corp (ARPSC) Weekly Net: Thursday at 8 pm on 145.250 MHz/100pl Web Site: Http://www.qsl.net/w8oak Meeting Minutes for 1 September 2004: On 1 September 2004 at 7 pm, Jim Thompson, N8USP, Deputy Emergency Coordinator (DEC) called the meeting to order in the County Emergency Operation Center (EOC). The order of business included: (1). Introduction and Comments from Jim Thompson, DEC: Joel Goldberg, W8HIU, EC is on his honeymoon in the Mediterranean and will be back in October. A coordinator is needed to head the next Simulated Emergency Test (SET). Anyone or any club wishing to volunteer, please let Jim know. No date has been set yet, but November is a target date. Forthcoming ARPSC Events Siren Testing will take place Saturday, 4 September 2004. Tracy prepared a hot siren list prepared that she sent out to subnet operators. FEMA IS-3 Class – Radiological Emergency Management Class will be held 9 am to 1 pm, Saturday, 9 October 2004 at the EOC. There is no prerequisite for this class. To register, please call Loretta at 248-858-5300. We need to know how many will take the class in order to have enough course copies. General Membership Meeting will be held Wednesday, 6 October 2004 with a light supper between 6-7 pm. Please let Loretta Pethick know if you are coming for dinner and/or meeting by calling 248-858-5300. After the supper, the meeting will move to the IT auditorium. Mike Sterm, Director Administrator for Oakland County ER&P will attend. Lloyd Sutter will be the main speaker with his topic, "Storm Chasing Experiences and Amateur Radio." Regarding the same 6 October 2004 date for V.E. Amateur Radio Testing, either Jim Thompson, N8USP, DEC or Barry Kaufman, WDu8JWM, DEC will talk with Jeff Albrecht, N8WR on the feasibility of his proposed VE Session. (2). Comments from Steve Iannucci, Emergency Response and Preparedness (ER&P): Amateur radio volunteers gave excellent coverage for the Woodward Dream Cruise in both Royal Oak and Berkley. Net coverage worked out well with the Berkley radio transceiver and its new antenna. (3). Comments from Randy Love, WF5X, Net Control for Friday's Berkley Parade of Cars (20 August 2004) and Woodward Dream Cruise (21 August 2004): The Berkley Parade had about 200 cars. Even with all the rain, everything went well. Saturday was a beautiful day in the low 70's and parade crowds were well behaved and unusually quiet. There was only one medical activation, in which someone slipped. There were 10 amateur volunteers for the Parade of Cars and about 25 for both shifts on Saturday. The Berkley Police worked the crowds for potential problems from alcohol. There were even four troopers from Alabama who came to assist the Police. The food provided by Berkley and Royal Oak was good and ample. Randy wishes to thank everyone who came to help. (4). Comments from Barry Kaufman, WD8JWM, DEC: The next ARPSC newsletter will be put out before the October meeting. Anyone with news, please let Barry know at Barry.Kaufman@earthlink.net The new permanent antenna at the Berkley Fire Department gave better coverage for the Dream Cruise because it is now above the tree line. George Schutte, K8GEO mentioned that while net control was using simplex and was easy to hear, various volunteers couldn't always hear one another from one end of the course to the other. The future use of a repeater would resolve this. (5) Comments on the Hospital Radio Committee: Ralph Greenberg, K8CAR, Committee Leader is in Lansing today and therefore, unable to report. Jim Murphy, N8SML requested assistance on the St. Joseph – Pontiac Hospital amateur radio. Calls to assist and test the radio at the hospital have not been returned. (6). Comments about Lighthouse Weekend Special Event (6-8 August 2004) at Tawas Point Lighthouse by Del Brown, KC8IJF: Gary Sklar, K8IKW headed the amateur radio event for a most successful weekend. There were 103 official contacts and even one from Russia. Most amazing was the number of people who came to visit the site and asked about our activities. (6). Comments on the W8OAK transmitter and receive sites: Randy Love, WF5X, reported comments from Steve Murphy of Oakland County Radio Services. The remote antenna site at the Berkley Fire Department will be in use by October. Randy notes that there are two amateur radio antennas on the Berkley site, one being for the future WJ8OAK remote and the other serving the Woodward Dream Cruise. Steve Murphy also reported (via Randy) that there is major repeater interference on Ormond Road, between Davisburg Road and White Lake Road. Currently, remote antenna sites for the repeater are Addison, Bald Mountain, Davisburg, Southfield, Waterford and Novi. Randy estimates these with the forth-coming Berkley site will give 90% coverage 90% of the time. Jim Thompson, N8USP, commented that plans for an ICOM 2720 to be installed in Berkley Police Station have not been confirmed. Randy Love, WF5X, emphasized to the ARPSC members the proper use of the digital voice recorder (DVR) on the repeater to retrieve messages: one's identification (ID) must be given BEFORE punching in any codes and the ID must be given again AFTER using it. Periodic announcements on repeaters (except time announcements) are not allowed, but accessible announcements are okay. An ARPSC member requested an update on a possible Highland remote repeater site, which he believes is needed. Randy Love, WF5X replied that the Highland Campus is 6 miles from another site and is too close to use. (7). Other up-coming events are: Up-Coming Events Sunday, 12 September 2004 – Findlay Radio Club Swap. Info at http://findlayradioclub.org Sunday, 19 September 2004 – Walk to d'feet ALS is at Kensington Metropark. Website is at http://www.alsofmi.org/walktodfeet2004.htm. Two more amateurs are needed. Please contact Joel Goldberg, W8HIU to volunteer at w8hiu@arrl.net. Sunday, 31 October 2d 004 – Utica Shelby Emergency Communications Association Swap is at the Polish Century Club on Maple Lane in Sterling Heights. This is a new location and it is not at the Italian Cultural Center. This is a better setup with a larger room, and easier for security. The location is near 14 Mile Road and Hoover. More info is at http://www.useca.net (8). Quiz from Barry Kaufman, WD8JWM, DEC: Members were given a questionnaire on how to conduct one's self if exposed to terror or a weapon of mass destruction, which emphasized preparation and training for such an emergency. First responders may be called to react during such an emergency, i.e. chemical spill. A previously prepared emergency kit would prove very useful for a majority of incidents, since many have common emergency elements. More useful information on exposure to terror and weapons of mass destruction may be found at http://www.americaprepared.org. (9). E-mail comments from Joel Goldberg, W8HIU, EC to ARPSC members: We need to insure that the volunteers and their "leaders" are aware of each other. The following are (1) Mark Raymond, who will work anywhere needed, (2) Jeff Albrecht, with Ralph Greenberg and Hospital radios, (3) Myron Bordman will work the hospital radio at Henry Ford in West Bloomfield, (4) Lloyd Suter in Training and Hospital backup, (5) Bob Kusk in digital backup, and (6) Paul Timmons anywhere needed. Backup for Randy Love's Repeater position is needed. The following volunteered: (1) Robert Rusk, N8LPS, and (2) Jeff Skurda, N8XN. Respectfully submitted 4 September 2004 Jim Murphy, N8SML Secretary, Oakland County ARPSC